2 days ago
‘The Pitt' Star Noah Wyle Calls on Congress to Help Health Care Workers: ‘These Aren't Partisan Issues'
'The Pitt' star Noah Wyle announced that he will be going in front of Congress to call for greater legislative and financial support for America's struggling health care workers.
In an op-ed published Tuesday by USA Today, the actor, who has become deeply familiar with the health care industry through his roles on 'ER' and 'The Pitt,' revealed that he plans to travel to Capitol Hill this week with ambassadors of FIGS, an apparel company dedicated to supporting and standing up for health care workers. He will join 18 health care professionals and his mother, a retired nurse, on the trip to Washington.
'Since ['The Pitt'] premiered, I've heard from countless health care workers who've told me they finally feel seen,' Wyle wrote. 'Their stories echo the same themes: exhaustion, compassion and a system that threatens to make their life's work unsustainable.'
In Washington, Wyle and his fellow advocates will ask Congress to act on the lack of mental health support, as well as the administrative burden and financial strain, that health care workers are struggling with right now. Wyle and co. are specifically seeking the reauthorization and renewed funding of the Dr. Lorna Breen Health Care Provider Protection Act, which was enacted with bipartisan support in 2022 but expired in 2024.
The act sets aside funding for both federal mental health programs for health care workers and financial grants designed to strengthen peer support, training programs and encourage cultural change at an institutional level.
The group will also be calling on Congress to move forward with reforms that are meant to take clinical judgment out of the hands of insurance companies and back into those of health care workers. 'Administrative red tape is strangling the system. Physicians and their staff spend nearly two full business days each week dealing with prior authorization – essentially asking insurance companies for permission to treat their patients,' Wyle explained.
Finally, Wyle said he plans to address the financial issues plaguing health care workers' lives. Citing one FIGS ambassador's experience working 80-hour weeks while barely being able to afford groceries, Wyle announced his intention to champion the Awesome Humans Act, which is a proposed federal tax credit intended to provide health care workers with some much-needed financial relief.
'Our message is simple: Without a supported, protected and fairly treated workforce, there is no patient care,' Wyle argued. 'These aren't partisan issues. They're practical ones. And they're urgent. Because when our health care professionals are burned out, buried in paperwork or forced to leave the field altogether, we all pay the price.'
'I'm not a policymaker. I'm not a clinician. But I've spent my career listening to those who are, and I've seen the difference they make when it matters most,' the 'Pitt' star concluded. 'To anyone who's ever benefited from the knowledge, care and courage of a health care professional, now's the time to show up for them and take action. They've had our backs. It's time we have theirs.'
The post 'The Pitt' Star Noah Wyle Calls on Congress to Help Health Care Workers: 'These Aren't Partisan Issues' appeared first on TheWrap.
